A Whole Lotta Flash: Lesli Margherita In "Matilda: The Musical"

The hit musical adaptation of Roald Dahl’s Matilda is currently running on Broadway at The Shubert Theatre. The show, which was first staged and is still running in London, features a book by Dennis Kelly and music and lyrics by Tim Minchin.

Matilda is the story of an extraordinary young girl whose voracious reading habits help her to dream of a better life - as her current life is full of bullies and disregard for her well being - starting from the moment she’s born when her mother, Mrs. Wormwood played by Lesli Margherita, declares: "This the worst day of my life!"

Lesli Margherita won an Olivier Award for her performance in Zorro the Musical in London’s West End. Her national tour/regional credits include Kiss Me, Kate; Show Boat and Man of La Mancha.

Her portrayal of Mrs. Wormwood in Matilda is flashy, funny - and fully cruel. She joins us to talk about the show, social media love, and her Muppet inspiration.

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If/Then is a new musical that began previews at The Richard Rodgers Theatre in New York City last night.

With music by Tom Kitt, book and lyrics by Brian Yorkey, and directed by Michael Greif, the show reunites the Tony and Pulitzer Prize winning team who created 2009’s Next to Normal. The production further reunites Greif with acclaimed actors, Idina Menzel and Anthony Rapp.

Outside Mullingar - a new play by John Patrick Shanley - the Pulitzer Prize winning playwright of Doubt and directed by Tony-winning director Doug Hughes, is currently running at the Manhattan Theatre Club’s Samuel J. Friedman Theatre on West 47th Street in New York City.

Tony winner, Brían F. O’Byrne, and Emmy winner, Debra Messing, play Anthony and Rosemary, two introverted misfits straddling 40. Anthony has spent his entire life on a cattle farm in rural Ireland, a state of affairs that - due to his painful shyness - suits him well. Rosemary lives right next door, determined to have him, watching the years slip away.

Outside Mullingar is a very Irish story with a surprising depth of poetic passion, these yearning, eccentric souls fight their way towards solid ground and hope to find some kindness and happiness.

There is an astoundingly riveting production of Samuel Becket’s existential absurdist classic, Waiting for Godot running at The Cort Theatre on West 48th Street in New York City. That is, on the nights that an unbelievably tense and masterful production of Harold Pinter’s No Man’s Landisn’t running in that same space.

In 2008, the musical In The Heights was nominated for 13 Tony Awards and won Best New Musical, Choreography, Orchestrations, and Score. It was also nominated for a Pulitzer Prize for Drama and it introduced the world at large to the diverse and impressive talents of its writer, composer, lyricist, and star, Lin-Manuel Miranda.

The writer, composer, actor worked with Stephen Sondheim and Arthur Laurents on the 2009 Broadway revival of West Side Story - specifically swapping out English lyrics for Spanish in portions of songs sung by the Puerto Rican characters; he performed in the City Center Encores presentation of Merrily We Roll Along in 2012; and he co-wrote the music and lyrics for Bring it On: The Musical - which was nominated for a Tony Award for Best New Musical this past Broadway season.

Jason Robert Brown’s first musical, Songs for a New World played off-Broadway in 1995 and has since been seen in more than two hundred productions around the world. He won the Tony Award for Best Original Score in 1999 for Parade and won Drama Desk Awards in 2002 for Best Music and Best Lyrics for The Last Five Years - which has been adapted for film by Richard LaGravenese and produced by Lucky Monkey Pictures, Sh-K-Boom Records, and Grand Peaks Entertainment.

Jason is the composer and lyricist of the new musical adaptation of The Bridges of Madison County. The book is by Tony and Pulitzer Prize winner Marsha Norman and it's directed by Tony winner Bartlett Sher.